The National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine, a branch of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), has awarded Bastyr University in Seattle, Wash.,
a three-year, $792,000 grant to study the effects of certain
species of mushrooms in strengthening the body's immune
response to breast and prostate cancers.
Research will
be conducted in collaboration with the University of Minnesota,
and will focus on a type of mushroom called the "turkey tail,"
which is commonly prescribed by naturopaths and practitioners of
traditional Chinese medicine.
The project includes two basic science studies and a
clinical trial. Laboratory and animal studies will explore the
mechanisms by which turkey tail mushroom extracts interact with
immune response pathways that defend against the formation of
tumor cells. In the clinical trial, the extract will be given
to women in conjunction with traditional breast cancer treatments.
Data from the trial will be used to design future clinical trials to
test whether the extract can improve immune function in breast
cancer patients after completing conventional treatment.
While the clinical trial involves breast cancer, the results
may also have implications for prostate cancer patients.